BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great song and vid

Is there some reason for the "Mexican" costumes?

That sucks. But next time, the guy needs to invest in an Anvil case. A bit more expensive, but if you're checking that caliber of guitar, you'd be much better protected.

Way to raise the bar on EECBs.

WOW! We have a consumerist gold medal e-carpet bomb. Catchy tune too! It would be great if it made Staurday night live or the tonight show. Just so it got some good publicity.

Then maybe some responsibility will be taken.

He says he told United he was going to release 3 songs about it and he has the second in production.

needs more cowbell

AWESOME. Better than, "you'rs is a very bad hotel" from a few years ago. He didn't just write a song, it's a video too. Sadly, this video could get airplay on all the radio stations and news networks in the country and United would still have the shi**y attitude. Shame on you United, you break it, you buy it. Prove me wrong.

Just phenomenal. The YouTube page says two more songs are coming. Hopefully they're at least thus good!!

@CaffiendCA: The op obviously should have assumed that all companies are evil and destroy everything. Thus he should have instead invented a teleportation devise that would have transported both himself and guitars to where he wanted to go.

btw where does it state in the article that he didn't have said case?

@larrymac: Do you have some sort of problem with Mexicans? Racism isn't tolerated around here you know.

the lyrics are "you're libel just admit it". not "why not just admit it"

the latter doesn't even flow :P

just saying...

love the country song btw

Here's the link for Yours is a very bad hotel.... Still funny after all those years. www.hyperorg.com/misc/DoubleTreeShow.ppt

I had to take a guitar on an airplane once. Gatechecked it the whole way and it did okay, but it was a huge pain hauling the thing around. Now I'm really glad I didn't check it.

@Skankingmike: You won't be surprised to know that I listened to that lyric six times before guessing at it. I'll make the correction.

What's United reason for not paying? Are guitars exempt from liability or something? Did they tell him that when he checked it? I know if something happened to my husband's beloved Taylor there would be hell to pay....

@cmdrsass: Are you always a moron or just on Tuesdays? My question is why are the band members dressed as they are, to me it seems barely a step beyond blackface. It was offensive when Genesis did it and I don't see what it adds to this song. You might want to brush up on how to use the reply function too.

So United is the airline that treats your luggage worst AND they charge for even the first checked bag...

In this age of farecompare and bookingbuddy, I am usually willing to fly with anybody so long as they are the cheapest with one exception: the obnoxious carry-on Nazis at United.
Thanks for the vid Dave! I hope you get restitution from those goons. Nobody deserves to have their things treated like that, especially after you are extorted to check your bags.

It's preceded in its genre by Tom Paxton, though: [www.last.fm]

("Thank you, Republic Airlines/ For breaking the neck of my guitar.")

@Chris Walters: Be sure to use "liable" as in "liability".

One way I got around actually checking a guitar, possibly by fluke, was to take it as a carry-on. Once I got to the plane, they put it in the cargo for me. IT was nice to have the control up to that point. Same for when I got off the flight, just grabbed it out of cargo.

@Chris Walters: it's cool, thanks for the new artist! apparently he's from Canada.

though if he was from the states he might have used "why not just admit it" because most people don't know what libel means :).

@larrymac: yea sorry spell check doesn't find the right word :P

@cmdrsass: Way to reply to the wrong thread. Also, whats wrong with asking why they are wearing mexican costumes. It would be racism if the guy was ranting against hiring mexican band members, and saying shit like "effing illegals, stealing money from them hard working disney cookie cutter amrikan musicians".

@Chris Walters: Actually its "you are liable" not "libel" :P

Changes the whole meaning actually...

Is that Rivers Cuomo?

@hillsrovey: They probably can say it wasn't packed well enough. Which technically is true if the case offered no real protection if the guitar is dropped.

But if they watched workers intentionally tossing it around, he should have filed a police report for vandalism. People do it for theft(it gets the airport to act), and with witnesses the vandalism should be easy to prove.

My boyfriend's flown with his guitar quite a few times, he just takes it as a carry-on and gate checks it. Gives you a lot more control/peace of mind.

Ahahahahaha, they are douchebags, why not pay it?!?! They deserve that song and more!

@LandOhNo: This is called a "gate check", FYI.

I am in no way blaming the OP but he doesn't say that he had insurance on the guitar. He should of had it insured. In addition maybe he should of had a rider in the policy to cover the actual value of it. My homeowners policy protects my belongings no matter where they are. From what I understand you can get the same coverage on renters policies as well.

About 20 years ago my 10 year old son and myself rented a log cabin in one of the Pennsylvania state parks. One evening we came back to the cabin to find someone had opened one of the windows to get in and took several items.

I checked with the company that wrote my homeowners insurance policy and found out I was covered for the loss, minus my deductible.

@hillsrovey: Probably because they have some clause about no liability for "accidental" damage or loss of property over $100 limit or something similiar in place.

Same thing if your expensive electronics gets "lost" or damaged in transit. Checked luggage is a "at your own risk" thing for anything of value.

I once checked my guitar into baggage...can't remember which airline. As I'm waiting at the baggage claim I can see through the hole to the other side where the handlers are throwing suitcases onto the belt. They then proceed to take my guitar and try to shove it through the hole in ways it wont fit....it was like watching a toddler try to fit the round block into the square hole. Obviously frustrated by this conundrum, one of them grabs it and just throws it through the hole, proceeding to crack the outside of the case. I jumped onto the belt, poked my head through to the other side and began yelling obscenities. That was fun. Good thing it was a cheap, crappy guitar. Why would anyone check a $3500 Taylor?

I have relatives who frequently travel with expensive instruments (some even pricier than the OP's Taylor guitar). They NEVER check them in. Absolutely NEVER. Instead, they take them on the plane with them. To date, with several dozen trips under their belts, they've never had any trouble doing so, although occasionally the TSA folks seem to take great interest in the instrument cases (it's not always obvious what they are, and the x-ray views can look a little weird), and on at least two occasions have taken aside my relatives to be "wanded" and have all their carry-on luggage opened and inspected.

@CaffiendCA: Why should he hock up the extra dough just because luggage carriers are careless?

If you've ever watched baggage handlers, it's like many of them try to see how recklessly they can manhandle your luggage. Does it really take that much more effort to place a bag on a conveyor rather than heave it? You'd think since each of those bags is apparently worth ~$20 in fees nowadays, they'd treat them like the fragile little ballistic nylon cash cows they are.

Oh, and it's a shame one of the very few sure-fire ways to get satisfaction in these situations is to make a catchy viral video. What are the rest of us talentless, uncreative schmucks to do?

Okay I really really love this. While ultimately I always encourage / suggest a lawsuit when the company won't due the right thing, I think this is a great example of how a consumer that doesn't feel like / want to sue can walk away letting the world know what happened in style.

United PR people / execs and customer service people...listen up:

You are MORONS for letting this get this far, denying the claim, and further not responding. I hope this video loses you tons of business, you deserve it and you have lost mine.

What makes you think customers should just sit there and let your thug criminal and probably non-screened tarmac monkeys deliberately smash people's valued possessions? How would you like it if YOUR things were destroyed this way? What would the united CEO do if HIS stuff were treated this way? Fire the tarmac monkeys. But it's not his guitar, so it's okay.

I actually wish the OP would go ahead and sue, and present this video as evidence. The judge, jury and everyone but the dumb-ass defendants would love it and the guy would probably get bonus money in the judgment.

Further, you could subpoena United for the names of the tarmac monkeys and sue them personally or have them arrested for vandalism and destruction of private property. I would, after I got them fired.

@lannister80: There's the word I was looking for! My brain is still on Monday morning.

@CaffiendCA: I fly every year to go hunting out of state. I invested in a costly gun case that, while too heavy to actually be tossed around, has many serious gouges and dents in its metal exterior. The rifle and the revolver contained within it are very tightly sandwiched between two dense pieces of foam but still end up shifting slightly (and I blame them for causing me to re-sight my scope every time I arrive at my destination).

Yes, the airlines (American, in my case) should take better care of our luggange, but it is nonetheless prudent to take precautions against when they are not if you are transporting something you care a great deal for.

Any company which has such bad customer service that this customer service inspired a website has its head up its tail:

www.untied.com

@larrymac: I think it's "you're lying just admit it" which makes way more sense than liable (one less syllable).

@CaffiendCA: Ohh, they sell case wraps too. I'd have one made up in blaze orange and in 3 languages saying "You break it, you bought it."

I am NOT surprised that this happened at O'Hare. I'm sure there are a lot of problem employees at United, but in my experience they all work at O'Hare airport. I've never had the misfortune of dealing with worse people than the ones who work at or fly in and out of Chicago. If United is smart they'll fire the entire O'Hare staff and start over...ideally they'd hire people with souls.

@larrymac: Clearly they're trying to be racist bigots and are out to rid 'merica of the Mexican plague. Or, you're being entirely oversensitive and they're wearing them because they look funny.

@PsiCop: What instruments do your relatives travel with? It's probably easier to carry on a flute than a guitar.

@Skankingmike: From the picture, he clearly has a case from the manufacturer. I have guitars, and would never check one of those cases. I don't know specifically about Taylor, but my Ovation came in a case that wouldn't give it adequate protection on an airplane. The luggage routing in most airports is more than brutal enough to screw up a guitar in a fitted case.

This is blantantly clear abuse, and United is going to have to pay up on this to stem the bad publicity.

@Nighthawke: You forgot the part about "by accepting this package for transportation, you agree to handle it in such a manner that it will arrive at it's destination in working order, or you will provide repair or replacement costs."

@floraposte: Beat me to it. Tom FTW.

@theblackdog: don't be so sure. I play professionally, and had people at Harrisburg PA think that my $12,000 flute was a pipe bomb or other type of weapon. Scared the crap out of me. "It's a bunch of metal tubes right??? weird stuff on them?? (keys) What else could it be??"

Thankfully their superior's daughter played flute in the high school band and she knew what it was.

But no, I've never, ever, ever checked it. I had a flute stolen from me five years ago as I sat on a bench at my college, and the person sitting next to me always looks at me a little funny when I take the flute case out of the gigbag and sit in my seat with my arms wrapped around it.